A public messaging brawl over Virginia’s upcoming redistricting referendum has gotten even messier with new mailers prominently displaying out-of-context quotes from former President Barack Obama.
The front of the mailers, which some Arlington households received last week, urges residents to vote against redistricting and quotes Obama as saying, “Let voters decide, not politicians.” Obama actually supports redistricting, and his quote is taken from a pro-redistricting ad released a few weeks ago.
The mailers have prompted condemnation from Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones (D), the Arlington County Democratic Committee and the Virginia NAACP, although the chair of the Arlington GOP defended them in a statement to ARLnow.
In the original pro-redistricting ad with the organization Virginians for Fair Elections, Obama argues that redrawing Virginia’s congressional maps to heavily favor Democrats is necessary because of Republicans’ attempts to do the same in other states, such as Texas.
“Republicans want to steal enough seats in Congress to rig the next election and wield unchecked power for two more years, but you can stop them by voting yes by April 21. Help put our elections back on a level playing field and let voters decide, not politicians,” Obama’s complete quote says.
The mailers are supported by the Justice for Democracy PAC, the same group that funded other anti-redistricting materials that evoked imagery of the Civil Rights Movement in accusing Virginia lawmakers of “trying to take our districts away.” Those ads prompted outcry from groups including the Virginia NAACP.
The PAC’s largest donor — contributing $2.5 million on March 26 — is Per Aspera Policy Incorporated, a “dark money” group with past ties to billionaire tech investor and Republican donor Peter Thiel.
Jones condemned the recent materials as “a campaign built on lies and racial division.”
“These ads deliberately exploit the history of Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement to mislead Black voters and suppress participation,” Jones said in a press release today (Wednesday). “That is not just offensive. It is a modern playbook for voter suppression.”
The NAACP Virginia State Conference also held a press conference this morning to decry the mailers.
““The images that you were seeing on these false mailers and some that are appearing online evoke memories of a time that create anxiety, especially for the African American population in the commonwealth of Virginia,” said the Rev. Cozy Bailey, president of the NAACP Virginia State Conference, according to the Virginia Scope.
The Arlington County Democratic Committee likewise condemned a “flood of deceptive mailers and misinformation targeting voters across Arlington and Virginia” in a statement to ARLnow.
“Twisting quotes and misusing civil rights imagery to mislead voters is unacceptable and an insult to our shared democratic values,” the organization said. “That is why this amendment is needed to restore fairness ahead of the midterms, and why leaders like President Obama and Governor Spanberger support it.”
By contrast, Arlington GOP Chairman Matthew Hurtt argued that misleading ads are fair game because, in his view, the language in the ballot initiative already deceives voters.
“Democrats set the rules of engagement for the gerrymandering referendum when they crafted deeply misleading ballot language to trick and mislead voters,” Hurtt said. “Republicans and Vote No-aligned groups appear to have adopted the rules set by Louise Lucas [president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate] and her allies.”
The referendum asks voters, “Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to allow the General Assembly to temporarily adopt new congressional districts to restore fairness in the upcoming elections, while ensuring Virginia’s standard redistricting process resumes for all future redistricting after the 2030 census?”
Other anti-redistricting mailers misleadingly quote both Obama and Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D), who is another proponent of redistricting in Virginia.
“President Obama, Governor Spanberger, and The Washington Post all agree: Gerrymandering is wrong!” states the mailer, which fails to mention that Obama and Spanberger actually support redistricting in this context.
The anti-redistricting materials came out around the same time as pro-redistricting materials that also draw on Obama quotes. The pro-redistricting ads accurately quote Obama as being in support of the proposed amendment.
Other pro-redistricting materials have included a partisan newspaper from American Independent Media, which specializes in content that mimics the form of impartial news sources in order to promote progressive causes.
Advance Arlington is hosting a public forum on redistricting on April 8. It promises a “clear, balanced conversation designed to cut through the confusion,” featuring a PhD candidate at George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government, former Arlington Electoral Board member Richard Stamp, and state Del. Marcus Simon (D-13).
